Aboriginal linguistic families

Let's now look at a map of Aboriginal languages. There are more than 50 Aboriginal languages spoken in Canada. They can be grouped into a smaller number of linguistic families. Each linguistic family contains one or more related languages. The map colour in each census division represents the linguistic family which has the largest number of speakers. For the families shown on the map, the main languages they contain are as follows:

• Algonquian - Blackfoot, Cree, Malecite, Micmac, Montagnais-Naskapi and Ojibway
• Athapaskan (or Dene) - Carrier, Chilcotin, Chipewyan, Dogrib, Kutchin-Gwich'in (Loucheux), North Slave (Hare) and South Slave
• Iroquoian - Mohawk
• Inuktitut - Inuktitut

This map is interesting, but it should be used with caution. The areas do not indicate the actual number of speakers, and the data set is not complete.

The following table is another way to show these data. It lists the eight most frequently reported Aboriginal mother tongues and gives the number of speakers in 1991. The table also gives a geographic distribution of these people - for example, 84 % of the people giving Montagnais-Naskapi as their mother tongue live in Quebec.

 

Language	Number	Main location
Cree	82 070	Manitoba and Saskachewan (57%)
Ojibway	25 245	Ontario and Manitoba (89%)
Inuktitut	24 980	Northwest Territories and Quebec (95%)
Montagnais - Naskapi	7 575	Quebec (84%)
Micmac	6 260	Nova Scotia and New Brunswick (68%)
Dakota	4 110	Alberta (71%)
Blackfoot	4 000	Alberta (97%)
South Slave	3 520	Northwest Territories and Alberta (94%)
Other	32 410	-
Total	190 170	Canada

Source: Brian Harrison and Louise Marmen. 1994. Languages in Canada. Ottawa: Statistics Canada. Table 3.6.

If you are interested by this subject, we invite you to consult a map from the National Atlas of Canada entitled Canada - Indian and Inuit Languages. This map paints a comprehensive picture of the Native languages spoken in Canada. (The complete reference is in the bibliography at the end of the module).